Mr. Munford's History Blog: August 2016

Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Native American Culture

Totem Pole Project

In Social Studies we often study the cultures of groups of people. It is convenient to split culture into four categories for this purpose:

Economics: How do you get what you need and want?
Social: What makes one group of people different from another?
Political: How are rules made and enforced?
Geographical: What are the physical characteristics of a particular area and how does that affect culture?

As we study Pre-Columbian Native American cultures, I would like for you to consider the cultural aspects of your own life. To do this, I have assigned a totem pole project. The instructions are below:

your totem pole will probably not look like this one, but this is the general shape of a Pacific Coast Indian totem pole.

1. Draw a totem pole on a sheet of paper.
2. Next, split the totem pole into 4 equal sections,
3. In the top section of you pole draw pictures or symbols that represent how you and your family get money to buy the things you need and want.
4. In the second section draw pictures or symbols that represent at least one social aspect of your life. A good example might be a family tradition.
5. In the third section draw pictures or symbols to represent how rules are made and enforced in your home. (Political)
6. In the bottom section of your pole, draw symbols or pictures to represent where you live. (Geographical)
7. When finished, make it colorful.

Remember, you cannot use words, only symbols and pictures.
Have fun!

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Culture

When we study civilizations, it is helpful to examine their culture. Culture can be divided into categories in the following way:

Political:  Way of making and enforcing rules/laws. This can include villages, nations, leaders, governments, and law-making process.

Economic:  How we get what we need and want. In modern times, this could be going to work, getting paid, and using the money to buy groceries.

Geography:  Landforms, waterbodies, climate, natural resources, etc. This includes anything that is naturally found in a region.

Social:  Traditions, families, religion, beliefs, values, etc.

Today, we will be studying the many cultures of Native American tribes that existed in North America before the arrival of Columbus- hence the name Pre-Columbian!
In class, we will work together to create a culture grid for the Pacific Coast region, then you will pick a culture area (Great Plains, Eastern, West and Southwest) to complete a culture grid of your own. In each area of the grid you will have to make at least one inference (a conclusion based on evidence and reasoning) based on what you know about the culture area. You should have an explanation for every inference you make.
Click on the following link:   Culture Grid You will need to click "make a copy" so that you can type on it.